After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Eight or nine people squeezed into the narrow, dark outer room one after another, with various weapons such as knives, spears, axes, and swords clanging.

Even on that small earthen staircase, three or four people stood, shouting and cursing, "Damn Yu Dayong!" "What happened?" "Where's Yu Dayong? Where's Gao Du?" "Drag that bastard out and chop him up!"

Shen Shou, one of the three altar masters, with a long, horse-like face and a sharp knife in his hand, pushed through the excited crowd and jumped down the earthen steps.

The cellar smelled of dust, earth, and blood.

Looking ahead, there were five or six people crowded in front of them. The broad back of Madam Huang blocked the view, and the cellar was narrow and dark, so it was impossible to see what was happening.

Until the people in front shouted things like "Master Peng!" "Release Master Peng!" "Ning Baixuan Ergan!" "Who took off your handcuffs?" "Where are Yu Dayong and the others? Where did they go?" "Master Peng's leg is bleeding..."

Shen Shoucai vaguely realized that something completely unexpected seemed to have happened in the narrow cellar.

This was unbelievable; for a moment, he thought the man in front of him was joking.

Ning Baixuan...

That pretty boy who relied on Zhu Cuiwei and Gu Xichuan to gain credit? That scholar who played chess, wrote poetry, and drank wine? That coward who was captured by Master Feng in one fell swoop?

He escaped from prison?

They even kidnapped Old Man Peng!

Shen Shou opened his mouth in disbelief.

The people in front were carrying oil lamps.

The crowd was filled with excitement, wishing they could plunge their weapons into the darkness ahead. In their excitement, even the oil lamps in their hands trembled uncontrollably.

The lights flickered.

The dim, yellowish light flickered in the dark cellar.

Shen Shou gestured for one of his brothers to step back, and he pushed forward.

Then a figure was seen leaning against the doorway of the inner room, the orange light flickering on and off on his face and body.

Shen Shou noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead, his pale complexion, and the knife in his hand.

The young man held a gleaming knife, seemingly using the blade to slap Old Man Peng's bald head.

Old Peng gasped for breath, making low "ah ah" sounds as he twisted his handcuffs around his neck.

At his neck, the young man's left arm was tightly gripping his throat. Old Man Peng, who had fought in the north for many years, couldn't pry that arm off. For a while, he was barely breathing.

Pop, pop, pop.

Ning Nan looked tired. He patted the old man's forehead while holding him hostage, then glanced at the crowd in front of him, whose faces were flushed with anger, and grinned.

"Brother Feng,"

Ning Nan smiled and said to a scholar with a somewhat dazed look behind Madam Huang,

"Brother Feng, you are truly skilled. I, Ning, have suffered a great setback this time."

Upon hearing that familiar voice and tone, Feng Yu finally realized what had happened.

Brother Ning,

Feng Yu gritted his teeth, his eyes sharpening.

"Brother Ning is truly a master of skill!"

He was handcuffed with those ingeniously crafted handcuffs, locked in that narrow, low hole, and watched over by Yu Dayong and two other skilled men who had killed countless people. Yet... this man actually managed to escape!

They not only escaped.

They also kidnapped Old Man Peng, a dignified leader of the sect who was considered highly skilled even among the many experts in the sect!

A few beads of sweat appeared on Feng Yu's forehead. He clasped his hands in a fist salute and said:

"May I ask, Brother Ning, how did you manage to unlock these handcuffs?"

He touched his pocket; the remaining handcuffs and three keys were still there, so it was impossible that he had used the keys in his pocket to open them.

Feng Yu was truly baffled. How did this person manage to break free of the handcuffs and then handcuff himself to Master Peng?

Shen Shou, who squeezed through, also had a solemn expression, completely baffled as to what methods this person had used.

Ning Nan leaned against the door and slapped the dagger onto Peng Liangang's forehead: "Brother Feng, why don't you take a guess?"

Seeing that he didn't answer, Feng Yu held back, intending to search the man more thoroughly later, and then gritted his teeth and said:

"Where are Yu Dayong and the other two?"

Ning Nan raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Brother Feng, why don't you guess again?"

The woman from the Huang family, holding a bamboo chair, twitched her fat face and stared wide-eyed, asking, "Are they dead?"

Ning Nan grinned silently.

"I, Ning, have tried my best to kill them, but your sect is incredibly powerful. Perhaps you can save them with the help of the Eternal Mother, Amitabha Buddha, and so on."

Madam Huang was furious: "That damned scoundrel deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces!"

"You are the thieves!" A clear, angry voice came from the dark inner room.

Dressed in scholar's robes and wearing a square headscarf, Gongsun Heng gripped a long stick tightly in both hands, poked his head out from behind Ning Nan, and glared at him, saying:

"The thief cries 'Stop thief!'"

Feng Yu glanced at his junior sister's angry expression, and seeing that she was neatly dressed, he felt much relieved and let out a long sigh:

"I'm so glad you're alright, Junior Sister Gongsun."

Seeing this treacherous scholar who had deceived her say such a thing, Gongsun Heng's phoenix eyes blazed with resentment, and she said with rage that she was about to explode:

"Feng Yu, you scoundrel! Don't call me junior sister... You're the one who tricked me and Junior Brother Li into helping you capture Master! You've wasted all your time studying the classics! Die, die, die! Bah!"

Hearing the barrage of insults, Feng Yu didn't argue back. As long as Ning Nan was alright, that was all that mattered. He just looked at Ning Nan with a serious expression.

Peng Liangang's face was as white as paper, and he uttered a few "ouch" sounds, saying:

"Oh, oh, Gongsun, Gongsun... Little Gongsun, it's so good that you're alright... Master Feng and I... were both so worried..."

Peng Liangang hadn't finished speaking.

Ning Nan swung the knife around and used the hilt to viciously knock Peng Liangang's front teeth!

"Bang!"

The knife handle collided violently with Old Man Peng's two front teeth!

The tooth root loosened and broke instantly.

Peng Liangang cried out "Ouch!" as his jaw snapped painfully, blood gushing from his mouth. His two broken front teeth fell into his mouth and, as he cried out in pain, they fell into his abdomen.

"Brother Ning!" Feng Yu called out.

"You thief! You actually dared to do that!"

"You dare hit Old Man Peng?!"

"Master Peng meant well, why did you hit him!"

"act recklessly!"

"You damn motherfucker! I'm going to kill you! Kill you!"

Footsteps echoed in the cellar, and seven or eight men, brandishing clanging weapons, advanced in unison.

Gongsun Heng cried out in fear and quickly shrank behind Ning Nan, but she still mustered her courage and glared fiercely at the thieves.

Ning Nan swung his knife horizontally, and it landed on Peng Liangang's neck again. Although the men were red-faced and cursing, they dared not go any further.

Everyone looked anxious, and even more incredulous. Damn it, such ruthless methods, like a notorious bandit on the run. Is this person really Ning Baixuan? Did Feng Yu, the scholar-official, arrest the wrong person? Lost in thought, everyone's mind was shaken.

Ning Nan chuckled, gripping Peng Liangang tightly with his left arm, and looked at the pairs of eyes glaring at him angrily.